A NATIONAL HISTORIC

CHEMICAL L A N D M A R K

THE FIRST
NYLON PLANT

A M E R I C A N C H E M I C A L SOCIETY
Division of the History of Chemistry and
T h e Office of Public Outreach

DuPont plant, Seaford,
Delaware, 1939.
O n the Covert (top, right) DuPont
plant, Seaford, Delaware, 1995;
(middle) aerial view of Seaford plant,
1939; (bottom, left) " t w i s t e r s "
bundling nylon yarn filaments.
Background: "Twisters"bundling
nylon yarn filaments.
T
his booklet commemorates the designation of the DuPont
Nylon Plant in Seaford, Delaware, as a National Historic
Chemical Landmark. T h e designation was conferred by the
American Chemical Society ( A C S ) , a non-profit scientific and educa-
tional organization of 150,000 chemists and chemical engineers.
A plaque marking the A C S designation was presented to the
plant on October 26, 1995. T h e inscription reads: " A t this site on
December 15, 1939, DuPont began commercial production of nylon.
Among the earliest successes of a fundamental research program novel
in the American chemical industry, nylon was the first totally syn-
thetic fiber to be fashioned into consumer products. Prepared wholly
with materials readily derived from coal, air, and water, nylon has
properties superior to its natural counterparts, such as silk. Nylon
revolutionized the textile industry and led the way for a variety of
synthetic materials that have had enormous social and economic
impact on the fabric of everyday life worldwide."
DuPont developed nylon in record time, five years between the
creation of the molecule in the laboratory and plant start-up. T h e
process was technically complex, involving new raw materials, new
fiber-forming techniques and unfamiliar materials of construction.
Plant construction took one year and cost $8 million. T h e plant at
Seaford initially employed 850 people and had a capacity of 4 million
pounds a year; DuPont announced an expansion before the first pound
was produced. T h e Seaford plant is still operating today, employs
1,600 people, and has a capacity of 400 million pounds100 times
greater than in 1939.
Acknowledgments:
T h e American C h e m i c a l Society gratefully acknowledges the assistance of those who
helped prepare this booklet, including: Robert D . Lipscomb, retired D u P o n t scientist
and consultant in science education; Joseph X . Labovsky, laboratory assistant to
Wallace Carothers; Jeffrey L . Sturchio of Merck & C o . , I n c . , chairman of the A C S
Advisory Committee on National Historic C h e m i c a l L a n d m a r k s ; James J . Bohning of
A C S , the Advisory Committee liaison; the staff of the Hagley Museum and L i b r a r y ; and
John W . Collette, Director of Scientific Affairs for D u P o n t , and members of his staff
Patricia Snyder, Marguerite Vavalla and Judy Foraker.
T h i s booklet was written by John F . M c A l l i s t e r and produced by the A C S Office of
Public Outreach. Production Supervisor: V i v i a n Powers. L a y o u t : Dahlman/Middour
Design. Photographs courtesy of D u P o n t and the Hagley Museum and L i b r a r y .
Copyright 1995 A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society
THE "SUPERPOLYMERS"

W hile n y l o n takes many forms, i t made its

name as a textile fiber and revolutionized the
textile industry. According to Fortune magazine i n
the molecular still, a laboratory tool that made i t
possible to produce polyesters w i t h molecular
weights as h i g h as 25,000.
1940, n y l o n was the f i f t h basic textile development
i n 4,000 years; the others were mercerized cotton,
mechanical mass production, synthetic dyes, and Fiber-Forming Polymers
rayon. I n turn, n y l o n led to a host of other fibers
and plastics that are integral to an advanced indus- Carothers called these
trial society. materials "superpolymers."
They were tough, opaque
solids w h i c h became trans-
parent, viscous liquids when
A "Radical Departure" heated. T w o important
I n 1926, DuPont's research head, Dr. Charles observations were made by
M . A . Stine, proposed what he called "a radical his chief associate, Dr. Julian
departure from previous policy"a program of H i l l : first, that filaments
"Pure science," w i t h "the object of establishing or could be obtained by pulling
discovering new scientific facts" w i t h o u t foreseeable threads like taffy from the
practical application. Stine proposed research i n molten polymer; second, that
several areas, including organic synthesis and these filaments when cooled
polymerization. T o lead this work, he hired Dr. could be drawn many times
Wallace Carothers from Harvard University and their original length, enhanc-
provided h i m w i t h a staff of newly minted Ph.D.s ing their properties. Julian H i l l reenacts the
from Colorado, Johns Hopkins, Illinois, M I T , and Whether dry or wet, they discovery of the first man-made
polymer, stretching it into a thin
Michigan. Carothers decided to concentrate o n became strong and elastic fiber.
polymers, giant molecules that are the building the characteristics of a
blocks of such familiar substances as rubber and promising textile fiber. Filaments could also be
cotton. A t that time, most scientists believed produced by dissolving the polymer i n chloroform
polymers were aggregates of small molecules bound and passing the viscous solution through a standard
by u n k n o w n or undefined forces, and not by ordi- rayon spinneret.
nary chemical bonds. Carothers believed that I n 1931 the company applied for a patent on
polymers were molecules hooked together end to linear condensation polymers, and Carothers and
end i n long chains by ordinary bonds. T o test his H i l l presented a paper to the A m e r i c a n Chemical
theory, he proposed to create polymers by using Society i n w h i c h they disclosed superpolyesters that
well-known chemical reactions to j o i n together could be extruded and drawn into a fiber w i t h
many small molecules. A few days properties superior
after starting work, he wrote that he to silk.
intended: Carothers'
to study the reactions of substances group experimented
x A x on yBy where A and B are w i t h many composi-
divalent radicals and x and y are tions, but none was
functional groups capable of a suitable candidate
reacting w i t h each other. Where A for a textile fiber.
and B are quite short, such reac-
Their melting points
rions lead to simple rings of which
were too low, and
many have been synthesized by this
method. Where they are long, they were too
formation of small rings is not sensitive to solvents.
possible. Hence reaction must lead Though his research
either to large rings or long chains. continued, by 1933
Using dibasic acids and glycols, work on fully
he was successful i n producing synthetic fibers had
Wallace H . Carothers
i n his laboratory at the DuPont come to a halt.
polyesters w i t h molecular weights of Company's Experimental Station near Wilmington,
2300 to 5000. He then introduced Delaware.
THE DEVELOPMENT OF NYLON

I n the early 1930's, Stine was promoted to

DuPont's management committee and Elmer K.
Bolton succeeded h i m as chemical research direc-
tor. Bolton's top research priority was the creation
of a new synthetic fiber. Thus began the interplay
of science and commerce that marks the develop-
ment process the " D " of R & D .
New technology was needed to make the raw
materials and to form t h e m i n t o a fiber. The
market had to be decided upon, an important
choice for a material that could compete w i t h
cotton, silk, wool and rayon. The decision to focus
on hosiery was crucial. I t was a limited, premium
market. " W h e n you want to develp a new fiber for
fabrics you need thousands of pounds," said
Crawford Greenewalt, a research supervisor during
n y l o n development who later became company
president and CEO. " A l l we needed to make was a
few grams at a time, enough to k n i t one stocking."
I n addition, the technology had to be scaled up and
a plant built that required materials of construction
that were new at the time. A n d the time was the
Great Depression, n o t the most propitious moment
to take a $27 m i l l i o n gamble the cost of n y l o n
from research through the start-up of Seaford.
Adjusting steam-spinning windup, A p r i l 1939.

Back in the Lab

Encouraged by Bolton, i n 1934 Carothers
began a renewed effort to make a polymer suitable
for fibers. He chose an ester of a nine-carbon
amino acid as the starting material and produced a
polyamide w i t h a h i g h melting point, the first
n y l o n . Carothers' group t h e n looked at 81 polya-
mide compositions, including o n February 28, 1935,
the 66 polymer so called because each of the
reacting chemicals, hexamethylene diamine and
adipic acid, has six carbon atoms. Polymer 66 was
selected for development i n part because b o t h of
the raw materials could be made from benzene,
readily available from coal.
The initial development took place i n the
laboratory w i t h equipment that could produce 100
pounds of nylon a week. The operation was so
temperamental that the technicians actually tip-toed
in the spinning room. They cautioned visitors to give
the operation only a sidewise glance, for a head-on
look would stop the process completely. I n 1938, a
pilot plant was constructed that could produce 500
pounds of nylon a day. The pilot plant was critical to
getting Seaford up and running i n record time.
The Technical Tasks
The technical tasks were many. Consider
these examples:
Intermediate chemicals. N e w manufacturing
processes for b o t h adipic acid and hexamethylene
diamine were developed at the Belle, W . V a . , plant,
and new equipment was designed to keep the
ingredients h o t during transport over the Appala-
chians to Delaware.
Melt spinning. Before nylon, spinning the
extrusion of polymer to form filaments (as a spider
"spins" its web or a silkworm a cocoon) was done
w i t h a solvent. N y l o n could be solution-spun, but i t
also could be spun by melting the polymer. W h i l e
this offered advantages, i t had never been done. " I
had nightmares over melt spinning," said
Greenewalt. "The problem was, the melting p o i n t
of n y l o n was very close to the decomposition point.
W e ' d get bubbles, because the decomposition
products were gases." The solution, simple i n
hindsight, was to keep the polymer under high m i l l i o n , one-sixth of its 1938 net earnings.
pressure 4,000 pounds per square inch. Special N y l o n was a best seller from the outset. Prior to
pumps were designed to operate at these pressures, the start-up of Seaford, DuPont had put 4,000 pairs of
w i t h small clearances and w i t h no lubricant other stockings on sale i n W i l m i n g t o n they sold out i n
than the polymer itself. A new grade of stainless three hours. Seven months later, the company put
steel had to be used that was abrasion resistant. 4,000,000 pairs on sale nationally these sold out i n
T h e high temperatures, 5 5 0 F (285 C ) , four days. The name "nylon," intended to be the
posed other problems. M a n y types of spinning-cell generic designation of a class of polymers, became
melting grids were designed to f i n d a candidate that another word for stockings.
would m a i n t a i n heated surfaces i n spite of the poor Today n y l o n comprises 20 percent of the
thermal conductivity of the polymer. T o protect world's manufactured fiber production, w h i c h i n
the h o t polymer from oxidation, DuPont used a t u r n is almost half the total of all fiber production.
purified grade of nitrogen, w h i c h came to be k n o w n Worldwide, 8 b i l l i o n pounds of n y l o n are produced
as "Seaford-grade nitrogen." I n addition, the each year 11/2 pounds for every person on earth.
spinning assembly involved radically new engineer-
ing developments to produce fibers of the required
uniformity. Before the plant was opened, eight
different spinning assemblies were constructed, each
one embodying the newest ideas.
High-speed spinning and cold drawing.
Special equipment was designed for this
crucial step. Generators were made to r u n
the windup of the yarn at a speed of 2,000
feet per minute w i t h virtually no variation.
T h e draw rolls between w h i c h the yarn
was stretched a uniform amount had to
be manufactured to a tolerance of
1/100,000th of an i n c h .
Sizing. T h e size, or surface coating,
itself proved a major problem. The first
choice corroded k n i t t i n g needles and
gummed up the machines. Candidate after
candidate was tried and failed. T h e clock
was ticking. DuPont eventually assigned 30
scientists to work o n the problem, and they
didn't come up w i t h the answer u n t i l the
structural steel was up at Seaford and much
of the other equipment was installed.

Going Public
T h e market development process set
off rumors i n the textile industry about the
new fiber. DuPont kept quiet u n t i l the
n y l o n patent was issued i n September 1938.
T h e Seaford plant was authorized o n
October 12, and two weeks later, Stine To promote nylon, DuPont erected this two-ton, 35-foot-high nylon stocking
announced n y l o n i n a nationwide broadcast. in Los Angeles. Actress Marie Wilson, whose leg was said to be the model for
the display, waves to photographers from an improvised bos'n's chair.
O n December 15, 1939, production
started o n the plant the first ever to be
designed for an operation never before
undertaken. I t would cost DuPont $8
LEADERS AND HEROES
Charles M . A . Stine - A pioneer i n
industrial research, Stine established the
program that led to nylon. A professor of
chemistry at 22, he retired from DuPont
i n 1945 as a vice president and director.
Stine was responsible for technical
advances i n explosives prior to W o r l d
War I and was an advisor to the atomic
energy project during W o r l d War I I .
Wallace H . Carothers - Rightly celebrated
as the one man most responsible for
nylon, Carothers revolutionized our
understanding of high polymeric
chemistry and provided a basis for the
development of technically useful
synthetic polymeric materials. I n 1936,
he became the first organic chemist i n
industry to be elected to the National
Academy of Sciences.
Julian W . H i l l - Carothers' chief
associate, H i l l was the first to observe the
filament and fiber-forming properties of
super-polymers. He received his P h . D . i n
organic chemistry from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology and later was
active i n science education, serving as
executive secretary of DuPont's
Educational A i d Committee.
T echnical development is like a military
campaign. There are leaders and heroes, but i t
is difficult to single out just who was responsible for
victory. B o l t o n identified 230 chemists and engi-
neers who were engaged at one time or another
before the designs were turned over to construc-
t i o n . I n addition to the principal players pictured
above:
Ernest B . Benger was assistant director of
DuPont's Chemical Department.
E . K . Gladding was the first manager of the n y l o n
division.
G . Preston Hoff was the technical director.
Gerard G . Berchet first synthesized n y l o n 66.
W . R . Peterson discovered that acetic acid made
it possible to produce uniform polymer.
E . Spanagel developed the sizing.
W . W . Heckert designed a dual pump that applied
the pressure to eliminate gas bubbles.
Dale F . Babcock developed technology that
doubled the rate of production.
Elmer K . Bolton - Building on Carothers'
theories, Bolton provided the direction that
led to the development of nylon fiber. He
was also instrumental i n the preparation of
synthetic dyes and the commercialization of
neoprene, the first synthetic rubber. H e
headed DuPont's Chemical Department from
1930 until his retirement i n 1951.
George W . Graves - I n 1935, he was
assigned to assist Carothers i n supervising
nylon development and became research
manager when the nylon division was
formed. He retired i n 1958 as general
director of research for DuPont's Textile
Fibers Department.
Emile F. du Pont - Great-great-grandson of the
founder of the DuPont Company, he helped to
plan the construction of the Seaford plant and
in 1938 became its first manager. He later
became director of employee relations and a
member of the board of directors.
W . T . Wood supervised construction of the Seaford
plant.
E . G . Ackart was the chief engineer.
John Brentlinger was manager of industrial engi-
neering.
H . W . Oggenfuss was one of the principal design
engineers.
Space permitting, the list could continue, to
encompass Bolton's 230 chemists and engineers and
beyond. I t is the nature of the development process
that each step towards commercial production
involves more and more people, u n t i l i t becomes an
achievement of the organization. N y l o n was such an
achievement.
REFERENCES FOR FURTHER READING

Roger Adams. " W i l l i a m H u m e Carothers." Biographical Julian W . H i l l . "Wallace H u m e Carothers." I n Proceed-

Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences, V o l . 20, N o . ings of the Robert A. Welch Foundation Conference on
12 (1939): 293-309. Chemical Research. V o l . 20, American Chemical Bicenten-
nial, ed. by W . O . M u l l i g a n ( H o u s t o n , Texas: W e l c h
Elmer K. B o l t o n . "Development of N y l o n . " Industrial
Foundation, 1977): 232-251.
and Engineering Chemistry 34 (January, 1942): 53-58.
Donald Holmes. History of the DuPont Company's Textile
Mary Ellen Bowden and John Kenly S m i t h Jr. American
Fibers Department. W i l m i n g t o n , Delaware: DuPont,
Chemical Enterprise. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:
1983.
C h e m i c a l Heritage Foundation, 1994.
D a v i d A . Hounshell and John Kenly S m i t h Jr. Science
Wallace H . Carothers. Collected Papers of Wallace Hume
and Corporate Strategy: DuPont R&D, 1902-1980.
Carothers on High Polymeric Substances, ed. by H . M a r k
Cambridge: Cambridge U n i v e r s i t y Press, 1988.
and G.S. W h i t b y . N e w York: Interscience, 1940.
Robert M . Joyce. "Elmer Keiser B o l t o n , 1886-1969."
W i l l i a m Chambless. " N y l o n Is 40." Context Magarine,
Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences,
V o l . 1, N o . 2 (1978): 24-29.
Vol. 54. (1983): 50-72.
A l f r e d D . Chandler and Stephen Salsbury. Pierre S.
Peter J. T . Morris. Polymer Pioneers. Philadelphia,
du Pont and the Making of a Modem Corporation. New
Pennsylvania: C h e m i c a l Heritage Foundation, 1986.
York: Harper & Row, 1971.
W i l l a r d F. Mueller. " D u P o n t : A Study i n F i r m G r o w t h . "
DuPont: The Autobiography of an American Enterprise.
P h . D . thesis, V a n d e r b i l t U n i v e r s i t y , 1956.
N e w York: Scribners, 1952.
" N y l o n . " Fortune (July 1940): 53-60.
W i l l i a m S. D u t t o n . DuPont 140 Years. N e w York:
Scribners, 1949. Ferdinand Schulze and Roy Soukup. The Technical
Division of the Rayon Department, 1920-51. Wilmington,
Yasu Furukawa. "Staudinger, Carothers, and the
Delaware: DuPont, 1952.
Emergence of Macromolecular Chemistry." P h . D . thesis,
University of O k l a h o m a , 1983.

THE NATIONAL HISTORIC CHEMICAL LANDMARKS

PROGRAM OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
NATIONAL HISTORIC
CHEMICAL LANDMARK

The A C S N a t i o n a l Historic Chemical Landmarks Program recognizes our

THE FIRST
scientific and technical heritage and encourages the preservation of historically NYLON PLANT
important achievements and artifacts i n chemistry, chemical engineering, and the
Seaford, Delaware
chemical process industries. I t provides an annotated roster to remind chemists, 1939

chemical engineers, students, educators, historians, and travelers of an inspiring A! this site OB December 15, 1939, DuPont bessp

heritage that illuminates b o t h where we have been and where we might go w h e n in ihe American chemical i-dj>!n. nvfun was the

traveling the diverse paths to discovery.

A n A C S Historic Chemical Milestone designation marks a landmark step i n
Hist l o u l l ' synthetic fiber to be fashioned into
icinsumer products. Prepared wholly with materials
readily iti >ed from coal, air, and Hater, nytas
has properties sapetier to its natural coenteiparts,
such as silk. Nylon r eveJutianited the teitile industry

the evolution of the chemical sciences and technologies. A Site designation marks
and led the way for a variety of synthetic materials
that have had enormous social and economic
Impact on toe fabric of eieivday (ire worldwide.
the location of an artifact, event, or other development of clear historical impor-
tance to chemists and chemical engineers. A n Historic C o l l e c t i o n designation
marks the contributions of a number of objects w i t h special significance to the
historical development of chemistry and chemical engineering.
This program began i n 1992, when the Division of the History of Chemistry
of the A C S formed an international Advisory Committee. T h e Committee, composed of chemists, chemical engineers,
and historians of science and technology, works w i t h the A C S Office of Public Outreach and is assisted by the Chemical
Heritage Foundation. Together, these organizations provide a public service by examining, n o t i n g , recording, and
acknowledging particularly significant achievements i n chemistry and chemical engineering. For further information,
please contact the A C S Office of Public Outreach, 1155 Sixteenth Street, N . W . , Washington, D . C . 20036,
800-ACS-5558, Press 954.
T h e A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society
B r i a n M . R u s h t o n , President
R o n a l d C . Breslow, President-Elect
Paul H . L . W a l t e r , Board C h a i r m a n
J o h n K C r u m , Executive D i r e c t o r
A n n B. Messmore, D i r e c t o r , Public O u t r e a c h
A C S D i v i s i o n of the H i s t o r y of C h e m i s t r y
M a r t i n D . Saltzman, C h a i r m a n
Joseph B. Lambert, C h a i r m a n - E l e c t
Vera M a i n z , Secretary-Treasurer
R i c h a r d E. Rice, Program C h a i r m a n
A C S Delaware Section
Patricia L . W a t s o n , C h a i r w o m a n
Prudence Bradley, C h a i r w o m a n - E l e c t
M a r i a S p i n u , Secrtary
H e l e n Hauer, Treasurer
Delaware Section Historical Site Committee
John W . Collette, Co-Chairman
Robert D . Lipscomb, C o - C h a i r m a n
Paul Becher
B e n j a m i n D . Herzog
Patricia L . W a t s o n
DuPont
Edgar S. W o o l a r d , C h a i r m a n
Joseph A . M i l l e r , Jr., Senior Vice-President,
Technology
A C S A d v i s o r y Committee on
National Historic C h e m i c a l L a n d m a r k s
C h a i r m a n : Jeffrey L . S t u r c h i o , M e r c k & C o . , I n c .
James J. B o h n i n g , A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society
Jon B. E k l u n d , N a t i o n a l M u s e u m o f
American History
Yasu Furukawa, T o k y o D e n k i U n i v e r s i t y
L e o n G o r t l e r , B r o o k l y n College
Ned D . Heindel, Lehigh University
Paul R. Jones, U n i v e r s i t y of N e w H a m p s h i r e
James W . L o n g , U n i v e r s i t y o f O r e g o n
Peter J. T . M o r r i s , N a t i o n a l M u s e u m o f Science
and Industry, L o n d o n
M a r y Jo N y e , O r e g o n State U n i v e r s i t y
Stanley I . Proctor, Jr., Proctor C o n s u l t i n g Services
D a v i d J. Rhees, B a k k e n L i b r a r y and M u s e u m
A n n C . H i g g i n s , A C S Staff Liaison

A m e r i c a n C h e m i c a l Society
1155 S i x t e e n t h Street, N . W .
W a s h i n g t o n , D . C . 20036